


such wonderful things surround you

by thishasbeencary



Series: tumblr ask prompts [6]
Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Merpeople, Alternate Universe - Royalty, Darker themes in chapter 6, Drabbles, Fluff, M/M, Mermaid!Viktor, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Sirens, Tumblr Prompt, mermaid!yuuri
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-15
Updated: 2018-07-31
Packaged: 2019-05-07 05:09:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 10,638
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14663964
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thishasbeencary/pseuds/thishasbeencary
Summary: assorted viktuuri mermay drabbles, originally posted on my blog.1. siren!viktor, prince!yuuri. fluff, established relationship (prompt: siren)2. mermaid!yuuri, human!viktor, fluff, established relationship (prompt: bath bomb)3. eel-mermaid!viktor, fish-mermaid!yuuri, first meeting (prompt: teeth)4. bioluminescent-mermaid!yuuri, human-painter!viktor, first meeting (prompt: moon)5. mermaid!viktor, human!yuuri, fluff, established relationship (prompt: toe)6. water spirit!yuuri, human viktor, dark, first meeting (prompt: eros)7. mermaid!viktor, mermaid!yuuri, fluff, established relationship (prompt: jellyfish)8. seadragon-mermaid!viktor, human-scientist!yuuri, fluff, first meeting (prompt: seaweed)9. shark-mermaid!yuuri, human!viktor, fluff, first meeting (prompt: tide)





	1. siren

**Author's Note:**

> i accidentally turned my 'maybe i'll write a couple 500 or less word prompts' into a couple 1000 word ficlets (and a few shorter ones, tho one is being turned into a longer story, i know that already). so i decided that i'd put them on ao3 so that they'd be easier to find and read.
> 
> happy mermay!
> 
> LIST OF FICS (the prompt words are also the chapter names):  
> 1\. siren!viktor, prince!yuuri. fluff, established relationship (prompt: siren)  
> 2\. mermaid!yuuri, human!viktor, fluff, established relationship (prompt: bath bomb)  
> 3\. eel-mermaid!viktor, fish-mermaid!yuuri, first meeting (prompt: teeth)  
> 4\. bioluminescent-mermaid!yuuri, human-painter!viktor, first meeting (prompt: moon)  
> 5\. mermaid!viktor, human!yuuri, fluff, established relationship (prompt: toe)  
> 6\. water spirit!yuuri, human viktor, dark, first meeting (prompt: eros)  
> 7\. mermaid!viktor, mermaid!yuuri, fluff, established relationship (prompt: jellyfish)  
> 8\. seadragon-mermaid!viktor, human-scientist!yuuri, fluff, first meeting (prompt: seaweed)  
> 9\. shark-mermaid!yuuri, human!viktor, fluff, first meeting (prompt: tide)

“Yuuri, come on!” Phichit held up the beeswax for the prince, but he shook his head. 

“I told you, Phichit, we don’t need it!”

“You want to sail through the siren’s rocks without your ears blocked? Yuuri, you’re crazy? They’re going to sing us to our doom. You’ve lived seaside long enough to know that,” Phichit shoved the beeswax at him and Yuuri rolled his eyes.

“Just tie me to the mast or something. I want to hear them.”

Phichit had tested the ropes. He’d tested the ropes  _multiple times_  to make sure that they didn’t lose the prince to the sirens. But when he turned from the helm to look at the creatures they were sailing past, he saw the ropes lying limp on the ground and the prince walking toward the side of the ship.

How do you yell to your ship that the man you’re sailing back for is about to jump overboard when your ears are full of beeswax? Phichit abandoned the helm in a panic - the ship could steer itself for the moment. The waters seemed mostly clear other than the jagged rocks of the sirens, and they were sailing straight enough that they wouldn’t hit them. If the ship crashed, they weren’t going fast enough for it to do much damage, and Yuuri was more important.

There was a siren sitting on a rock, and by the way that his lips were moving, Phichit was sure that he was singing. That seemed to be the siren that Yuuri’s attentions were focused on. And he was handsome. Silvery hair, matching the shade and shimmer of his wings, was pulled just away from one of his piercing blue eyes. He was wrapped in a light robe, perched on the very edge of the rock, clearly ready to strike at whatever sailors fell for him.

The siren smiled widely at the ship, his silver hair falling over his eye as he continued to sing. He clearly seemed to recognize that Yuuri was the only one under his call, considering the way that his gaze was so focused on the prince.

Yuuri took another step forward and was falling.

Phichit was too late. He stood at the edge of the steps, frozen for a second before he threw himself forward, looking over the edge of the ship. Yuuri had hit the water, and was sitting there far too calmly. He was swimming toward the  _siren_.

The siren threw himself from the rock, hurling his body toward Yuuri’s and picking him into his arms. He held Yuuri there, close against his body, small wing beats on monstrously large wings keeping them close by the side of the ship. What happened next? Did the siren bash him into the water? Did he just take him back to the island and rip him apart for them all to see?

Phichit had to stop this. He had to save Yuuri, he had to - do… something. He had no idea what to do.

Phichit stood uselessly on the deck as the siren held onto Yuuri’s body, hovering near the side of the ship. He had stopped singing, his mouth completely shut as he clung to the prince. This was bad. The king and queen were not going to be happy if he lost their son to a siren. He grabbed his sword from his belt, rushing forward to grab another member of the crew. Chris was the first person he was able to hold onto, and he pulled him to the edge of the ship, pointing below to where the siren and Yuuri were still flying alongside the ship.

He could barely make out Yuuri’s face, but he could see a small smile on his face, his hand cupping the siren’s face. Phichit stood frozen on the deck. The siren kissed Yuuri sweetly, and Phichit knew that the crinkled up look on Yuuri’s face meant that he was laughing, his arms around the siren’s neck. Their mouths were both moving, some sort of conversation happening between them. Yuuri was lost from the world.

Chris slowly removed his earplugs, rubbing a hand over his face. Phichit did the same, the “Please don’t tell me we just took the prince on a voyage to the sirens’ rocks so he could meet with his boyfriend.”

Phichit covered his face with a low groan. “I can’t believe this. I can’t believe Yuuri’s dating a  _siren_ , and didn’t tell us. If he’d told us he just wanted to meet up with his cute siren, I wouldn’t have bothered with the beeswax!”

Suddenly, the idea that Yuuri had specifically requested to fly past the sirens’ rocks the last three times they’d brought him between islands made much more sense, and so did the fact that he refused to block his ears as they did. He had been listening for a  _very specific song_. Actually, the rocks, now that Phichit had also removed his wax, were eerily quiet, other than the soft sounds of Yuuri and the siren talking by the water.

“Hey, lovebirds, any chance you could not  _scare us out of our minds_ next time!?” Phichit shouted to the two. The siren startled, nearly dropping Yuuri before laughing.

“He’s safe!” the siren called out, soaring toward the rocks and landing there so he could communicate without dropping Yuuri into the water. Yuuri covered his face, pressing himself against his siren’s side.

“I’m sorry! I was going to tell you, but you’d never believe me.” The prince’s favorite crew believing that he had a siren boyfriend? It made more sense now that Yuuri kept turning down suitor after suitor. The siren whispered something to Yuuri, and he nodded.

“Viktor says there’s a port on the back of the rocks. His kind knows our coat of arms, and they know better than to mess with a ship marked with it. You’ll be safe there for a few hours.”  _Viktor_ whispered something else and Yuuri’s cheeks lit up. “He says he left food out for you, too!”

Phichit stared at the prince and his siren boyfriend as they turned back to the rocks, disappearing into them. “Well, you heard him! To the shore,” Chris was laughing now, unable to believe what had just happened.

Yuuri returned to the deck later that night, his neck spotted with marks of  _exactly_  what the siren had done when he brought him back to the rocks.

“Are we expecting a royal marriage soon?”  Phichit teased, bumping shoulders with Yuuri.

 “I wouldn’t think so.” He winked conspiratorially, and as he turned away, Phichit saw that a golden ring already gleamed on his finger.


	2. bath bomb

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> mermaid!yuuri, human!viktor: fluff/established relationship
> 
> mermaid in the bathtub trope to the Extreme. what a sparkly boy <33

****

“Viktor, what is this?”

Viktor looked into the bathroom to see Yuuri holding up  something round, golden, and incredibly sparkly. Viktor grinned, walking into the bathroom and taking it out of his boyfriend’s webbed hands. “It’s a bath bomb.”

“A  _what_?” Viktor couldn’t help but smile, sitting on the edge of the tub and dipping his hand into the water. It was cooling down around Yuuri’s scales, but he didn’t seem to mind. 

Having an overly large bathtub really came in handy when your boyfriend was a mermaid. It gave Yuuri ample room to rest his tail and stretch out. If he curled up only a little bit, his whole body could be fully submerged. It was an aspect that made the whole purchase of the seaside cabin worth it. It’s much easier to bring Yuuri to shore when he had somewhere comfortable to put him. Plus, the two of them could fit nicely in the bathtub if he held Yuuri between his legs or they sat opposite each other and let their legs overlap.

There was a small cabinet next to the bathtub where Viktor kept various supplies for the tub - bubble baths, different soaks, and bath bombs, like the one in question. Yuuri had, not shockingly, picked the shiniest one that Viktor currently had out of the cabinet.

“A bath bomb. You put it into your bathtub, and it can add scents or colors. This one just smells like flowers, but it is metallic, sparkly gold,” Viktor said, turning the bath bomb over in his head. Yuuri had a thoughtful look set on his face, reaching out to take it back from Viktor. Some of the gold rubbed off on his fingers.

“Can we try it?” Yuuri asked shyly, looking up at Viktor. He slid his tail to the side of the tub, which Viktor knew meant that he wanted to Viktor to climb in with him. Viktor smiled, nodding his head.

“Let me go put away the rest of our groceries. Start emptying out the water, so we can have some warmer water when we put it in?” Viktor set the bath bomb onto the sink. He leaned in to kiss Yuuri softly, standing there for a moment just happily kissing him.

“Viktor, go,” Yuuri laughed, pressing his hands against his chest. “We can kiss after we try the bath bomb.”

That was good enough incentive for Viktor to pull himself away from his boyfriend. “Alright. Love you,” Viktor called back to him, ducking into the kitchen. He put all of the groceries away carefully, knowing that if he rushed now he’d regret it later.

After he was finished, he ducked into his room to quickly strip out of his clothes and change into an old slightly-too-tight swimsuit so he could get into the bath with Yuuri. While Yuuri didn’t  _mind_  him naked, they were planning on watching a movie tonight, and Viktor had to make dinner in decent time if they wanted to fit that in.

He walked back into the bathroom right as Yuuri turned the water back on. Viktor grinned. “Make it warm this time, Yuuri,” he requested, coming into the bathroom. Yuuri laughed, pushing himself to one side of the tub.

“You’re clearly not made for the water.” He curled the edge of his tail around Viktor’s feet once Viktor had climbed in, and Viktor laughed, pulling him into his lap and reaching out for the bath bomb. “I like it cold.”

“I know you do,” Viktor laughed. The first time he’d climbed into his oversized bathtub with Yuuri, he’d nearly jumped right out with how icy the water had been. “Turn it off once it’s full,” he instructed.

Yuuri nodded, shifting until he was comfortable enough against Viktor’s chest. He watched the water level carefully, turning it off when it was high enough. The first time, he’d let it fill a little too high, and when the two had climbed in together, water had gushed over the side of the tub. They’d gotten better since then. “Now watch,” Viktor said.

He dropped the bath bomb into the water, and immediately it started to fizz. Yuuri pressed back against Viktor’s chest in surprise, and Viktor laughed, reaching out to push the bath bomb around so that the color would spread. Yuuri watched it in awe.

“Of course you would have gold,” Yuuri laughed, turning around to kiss Viktor again.

“It matches your scales,” Viktor answered, tracing his fingers against the shiny gold of his boyfriend’s tail. 

“You have others,” Yuuri noted after a moment of silence when the color started to move throughout the tub and really fill the water. “We can try another some day?”

“Of course.” Viktor kissed Yuuri back, stroking his hands down at the scales on his wrist.

“And don’t wear your swimsuit next time,” Yuuri added, kissing him deeper and Viktor started to laugh.

“You’re the one that wanted to watch a movie!” he reminded, shaking his head.

“Then stay ‘til the water gets cold?” Yuuri asked, looking up at him through his eyelashes. Viktor couldn’t deny his boyfriend, holding his hands on his waist and kissing him until the water was too cold to stay in.

He stepped out and grabbed his phone off of the sink, taking a quick picture of the golden mermaid in the golden tub. “You don’t know how gorgeous you look right now.” Viktor poured water over Yuuri’s head so the golden glitter would stick in his hair. Yuuri spluttered out a laugh, shaking the water out of his face.

“But I’ll still never rival you.” He tugged Viktor own for one more kiss before letting him go to make dinner.


	3. teeth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> eel-mermaid!viktor, fish-mermaid!yuuri: first meeting

The first thing that Yuuri noticed were the  _teeth_. The creature was ripping apart the fish that it had found, teeth razor sharp and piercing through the flesh without a single stop. The teeth worked like they were simply cutting through the water that they swam through, ever dangerous but  _beautiful_  to watch.

As he got closer, he realized that it was humanoid. The creature that he was looking at was incredibly similar to himself, with the long, thin scaly body at the back, but a sleek humanoid top half. As Yuuri approached, it looked up, and he was  _stunned_. Something attached to an eel’s body should not be that gorgeous, but Yuuri’s mouth was uncharacteristically dry-feeling, a funny feeling for living in the ocean.

The eel-creature stared at Yuuri with piercing blue eyes, setting its prey to the side and sliding a little further out of its cave-like dwelling. Silvery hair framed his face, falling over top of one of his eyes. The long, winding curl of his tail was a dull golden color, shining as it attached to his body. He was unlike anything that Yuuri had ever seen.

“Hello!” Yuuri hadn’t expected it to be that cheerful, and he slowly smiled back at it, watching the teeth withdraw back into the creature’s mouth. The smile it showed Yuuri made him feel much less like prey for such a dangerous seeming creature.

“Um, hi,” Yuuri answered, swimming closer to it. His own body resembled the more peaceful fish of the sea, much like the one the eel had just torn apart as his prey. But Yuuri also ate fish, so he couldn’t let that make him fear the creature.

“Others don’t usually come this deep.” The creature’s body seemed to go on forever as he swam closer to Yuuri, dipping his head down in a nod. “My name is Viktor,” he introduced, reaching out a hand. His hands had a faint silvery shine to them, the same color as his hair.

“Yuuri.” He shook Viktor’s hand, marveling at the difference between the blue webbing around his own fingers compared to the dull look of the other.

“I’m glad to meet you!” Viktor answered, releasing his hand and looking around. “What are you doing so far down here? You’re awfully bright to be this far down,” he mused.

Yuuri shrugged. “I… wasn’t really paying attention to where I was going. I drifted deeper than usual.”

“You should drift deeper more often,” Viktor purred, looking at Yuuri excitedly. “This is certainly a pleasant surprise. I’ve never met someone so bright.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'm potentially considering writing a longer version of this one, which is why it's shorter than the other prompts in this collection. i'd expand upon what's here, and add more to the story. interested? i just really love the idea of how different an eel based mermaid would look compared to just a normal mermaid (which is what i mean by yuuri, he just looks like a basic mermaid basically) and how they'd interact with such different lives ajlsfdsa;;


	4. moon

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> bioluminescent-mermaid!yuuri, human-painter!viktor: first meeting

The ocean was a serene place at night. Most people had left the beaches and the seaside shores so the only sounds were rushing water and the call of birds. The sea shines with only the soft glow of the moon and the sparkle of bioluminescent algae floating along the surface.

It made for a peaceful place to paint, somewhere quiet and full of things to look at. Viktor sat at the edge of the dock, his bare feet barely dangling into the water as he sketched across the canvas. He’d painted the ocean before, many times. Living in a town by the sea made it one of his specialties. People loved his view of the sea.

But he’d painted it at all times of day that it grew dull, the shimmering blues he’d easily set across the canvas growing useless. He wasn’t even painting the sea now, although it was all that he could see. His phone was open with a picture of a bird. The sea was his canvas, the bird was his subject.

It was the worst bird he’d ever drawn.

Viktor sighed, kicking his feet against the water and watching the ripples spread over the surface. He paused when the ripples dispersed in a strange pattern, seeming to go around something else. Something that he couldn’t see. He wasn’t alone.

Viktor pulled his feet from the water, scanning over the waves. 

The sea at night was a dangerous place. As darkness fell, the ocean didn’t stop like the rest of society. The tide continues to rise and fall, and bring a full variety of creatures with it. And some rise from below the waters, where they lurk throughout the day. Dangerous creatures dwelled in the sea.

And Viktor was terrified that he’d just disturbed one.

He reached around the dock for something loose, and pulled up a small splinter of wood that had broken free. He threw it into the water, watching the ripples spread. This time, they were coming closer to him, the shape clearly moving. He couldn’t see any fins, and he held his breath as he waited for it to sink under the dock and away.

But it didn’t.

A bioluminscent glow filled the water near the dock, and he realized that must be whatever creature had disturbed his ripples. It was large, the tail easily the size of half of his body. He couldn’t see any defined features other than the glowing shape of the tail, but he kept himself firmly planted on the dock.

A  _head_  of all things popped out of the water, and Viktor took more shocked scared steps back. When he looked… it had human features.

And it looked terrified.

“The dock is usually empty by now!” The creature tried to duck back into the water and Viktor rushed forward.

“I know! I’m here later than usual. And you’re real. Please stay,” he gasped, reaching out. This was probably a terrible idea. “What are you?”

The man backed up into the water, staring at Viktor. “You’re… you want me to stay?”

“Why wouldn’t I?” Viktor inquired, stepping forward slowly. It didn’t seem to be harmful toward him.

“I’ve… I’ve watched you paint here for a few nights now. You’ve usually left by now, so I thought you’d just left your light on.” The creature ducked its head down. “I didn’t think you’d want to see me.”

“Are… you’re… you live… in the ocean?” Viktor asked, and the creature seemed to understand.

“I do.” He ducked under the water, skimming back a few feet. Viktor saw the gleam of his scales, and realized that he was talking to a  _mermaid_ , who had been watching him paint.

He didn’t even think before he spoke again. “Let me paint you,” Viktor whispered. “I won’t tell anyone you’re real, I promise. But you’re… beautiful.”

The mermaid blushed, a red tint filling his cheeks. The glow from the scales on his ears gave the appearance of the blush an otherworldly feeling to it.

“Don’t show my face,” he responded, turning around so Viktor could see the intricate patterns of scales along his back.

“I won’t, I promise,” Viktor whispered. ”I want… to paint what I saw, when you were coming here. The dangers of the sea, but so beautiful.” He slathered paint overtop of the terrible bird, sketching instead the mermaid in front of him.

“Do you have a name?” Viktor asked him after a moment of silence, dipping his paintbrush into his darkest blue to start the form of the creature in front of him, and to add a little detail to the waves. He wanted the sea to stay a dark figure around the mermaid in his painting, so the glowing shape of the mermaid was obvious.

“Yuuri,” he answered. “I don’t know why you’d want to paint me. I’m sure there are other creatures you cold find, that people actually  _want_ to see - “

“I’ve painted more seagulls and jellyfish than I can even explain, Yuuri,” Viktor laughed. “And people want to see you. There are so many people that want to put a face, and a name to the beautiful dangers that lurk beyond what we know.”

Yuuri blushed again, resting his arms on the dock as he watched Viktor paint. “Do I get to know the name of the human who’s about to reveal me to the world?”

“Viktor Nikiforov.” Viktor put down his brush and extended a paint-covered hand to Yuuri. “No one will believe this anyway.”

“Good,” Yuuri said. “And I’m glad to meet you, Viktor.” He shook Viktor’s hand, and Viktor marveled at the smooth slide of scales and webbing between Yuuri’s fingers. “Are you here often? I’ve seen a light up here a few nights. Is it always you?”

“It’s always me,” Viktor affirmed, staring at Yuuri. “You’re welcome to come see me again, if you want to. I promise I won’t paint you every night.”

Yuuri laughed, and Viktor stopped to stare at the beautiful smile on the mermaid’s face. “Maybe I’ll come back again.”

Viktor put an image of the canvas up the next day, the sparkling blue back of a creature unlike anything he’d seen before evident in his dark sea. “I’m trying something new,” he commented on the post, “and painting what we don’t expect to see.”

Most were shocked by Nikiforov’s twist to the unknown, unreal, supernatural beings of the sea.

Yuuri smiled when Viktor came back the next night and asked what other creatures were real.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> cary, as she's writing this prompt: "i should've just done a werewolf mermaid"


	5. toe

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> mermaid!viktor, human!yuuri: fluff/established relationship

Yuuri glanced down at his watch, sighing. It was hard to properly arrange times to meet with Viktor, because the two of them didn’t operate over the same idea of time. While Viktor’s kind did have time tracked by the brightness of the sun, it was much less exact than something Yuuri could measure on his watch. Viktor always showed up on time, even early, but it was different every day, so Yuuri didn’t know when to come.

That’s why he’d brought a book. If he could just focus on  _reading_ , he’d stop looking at his watch every twenty seconds to see when his mermaid boyfriend was going to show up to meet him for their date. He was sitting on a ledge near a cave they’d found was pretty private. He’d help Viktor out of the water on the ledge, and then they could go together into the cave. There was enough water that Viktor could sit comfortably but Yuuri also had dry land so he could get out of the water every so often.

He looked out over the water again before focusing back on his book. Viktor could be maybe even an hour longer, since the sun was still out. They wanted to meet right before dusk. He finally distracted himself with the book enough to stop looking at his watch, 

That was, until something dragged against his foot and Yuuri kicked out at the water in front of him, hitting something solid. Viktor’s head popped out of the water with a help of pain and Yuuri nearly fell off of the dock.

“I’m sorry! Oh, god, Vitya,” he groaned, biting down onto his lip as he readjusted to keep from falling into the ocean on top of his boyfriend. For god’s sake, he’d just kicked Viktor in the face. That was a good start to the date.

It was a reflex! It wasn’t like he meant to kick him in the face! But something comes up and starts touching your toes, you’re going to kick! Even if you  _know_ that someone was going to greet you from in the water.

Yuuri covered his face with his hands so he didn’t have to see Viktor clutching his nose in the water, a shocked look on his face. Luckily, there wasn’t too much blood on the hand that Viktor pulled away from the injury, so they were probably safe from that one. Yuuri didn’t really want to cut their date short because Viktor hadn’t announced his presence before he touched Yuuri’s feet and Yuuri had kicked him in the face.

He was obviously still at least a little hurt, though, and there was a little blood, so Yuuri leaned further off of the dock, reaching out to Viktor.  “Come here,” Yuuri beckoned, leaning down into the water so he could be closer to Viktor. “Let me see your nose.”

Viktor swam forward, his silver hair trailing behind him in the water. Yuuri marveled not for the first time how shimmery his hair was, despite constantly being submerged. He slowly moved his hands and Yuuri made a face, looking at Viktor’s nose. It definitely had some discoloration. Viktor sunk deeper into the water. “Does it look bad?” he whined.

“You’re worried about it looking bad.” Really, he should have expected nothing else from Viktor. His boyfriend was adorable, but could be incredibly shallow when it came to his appearance. “Come here so I can look more closely. And you don’t want to be in the water if you’re bleeding, Vitya. Sharks will find you.”

“There’s not even that much blood,” Viktor answered, but swam forward nonetheless. Yuuri didn’t really know how the ocean worked, but he was pretty sure that the very human flesh of Viktor’s upper half would be a good treat for a shark. The shimmer of his white scales wouldn’t make him very hard to find.

Yuuri reached out to gingerly cup Viktor’s face with his hand, turning his head from side to side and checking his nose. “It might be swollen, but it’s not broken.” 

“I’ll get someone to look at it when I go back,” Viktor decided, touching at his nose again. He withdrew his hand with a small wince, but looked up at Yuuri after he had, resting his cheek against Yuuri’s thigh. “It hurts.”

“I’m sorry.” Yuuri stroked Viktor’s hair softly, pressing a kiss against the top of his head. “I told you to warn me when you got here. I didn’t mean touching my  _toes_.”

“That was a warning. I thought you’d know it was me.” Viktor kissed Yuuri’s thigh before grabbing onto the dock, hauling himself out of the water. Yuuri quickly threw the towel that he’d brought over Viktor, easily covering the visible part of his tail.

It wasn’t exactly easy to hide Viktor, though. His entire body had the soft, almost transparent shimmer of scales, and the webbing between his fingers was large and a bright white, even lighter than his skin. He also had thicker white scales along his neck. Anyone who got a close look at Viktor could tell very easily that he wasn’t human, but hiding his tail was good enough. Most people didn’t really venture close to them, anyway.

“They’re  _sensitive_ , Vitya. You scraped your nails up the bottom of my foot!” Yuuri looked at Viktor, struggling to explain himself. “It’s like your caudal fin,” he said after a moment, twisting his foot underneath the towel to rub against the flowing white fin on the bottom of Viktor’s tail. Viktor shivered. “It’s sensitive, and I wasn’t expecting you to touch my foot, my body reacted.”

“Then how do you want me to warn you?” Viktor leaned against Yuuri, causing Yuuri to shiver at the water that immediately dropped onto his skin. Viktor had tugged his hair off to the other side, working on braiding it so it would be out of their way when Yuuri carried him into the cave.

“How about saying something? Or splashing me. Or not doing something that's going to cause me to accidentally hurt you.” Yuuri leaned forward to softly kiss Viktor. Viktor kissed back, the two lazily sitting together for a few moments longer. “Should we move inside?”

Viktor nodded, reaching out to Yuuri. Yuuri laughed, standing up and putting his book back into his bag. He slung the bag over his shoulder before picking Viktor into his arms, carrying him into the cave.

The two talked and kissed for a while in the cave, tail and legs twined together as they did. “Yuuri,” Viktor murmured after a while of quiet in the cave. “You said your feet were sensitive?  _How_ sensitive?” Viktor shifted his body so he could rub his scales against the bottom of Yuuri’s foot and Yuuri shivered.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the tail is supposed to be sort of agape themed? idk man it's a lot more difficult to describe agape as a mermaid than i expected


	6. eros

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 6\. water spirit!yuuri, human viktor, dark, first meeting (prompt: eros)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this one is a little bit darker so be warned of yuuri basically turning people crazy through his eros!demon magic. ambiguous ending, as well.
> 
> original idea was the eros backstory yuuri gives for the program:  
> A playboy comes to a certain town and bewitches the women left and right. He decides to pursue the most beautiful woman in town, but she isn’t swayed. Then, as they play the game of love, she finds it difficult to make the right choices and ends up falling for him.
> 
> Then he casts her aside, as though he’s tired of her, and goes off to the next town.
> 
>  the last few will be back to fluff!

It was easy.

The shimmer disappeared from Yuuri when he stepped out of the water, removing the dark scales and crimson glow from his body and leaving him in a very  _human_  form. A form that many humans found attractive, which made Collection easy. The grace of dancing came easily from the flow of water, a precious skill to impress and to curse humans.

He’d go forward, to seduce the dancers on the beach. Take the hand of a woman and give them a shy smile. “Dance with me?” As though it were a question, as though they had any choice. The dance was anything but, and the words were a command, dragging them along to his twists and turns, closer and closer to the sea until they’d forgotten where they came from.

By the end of the night, he was granted a kiss, and they were granted an end, cast into the water. They didn’t  _die_ , but their souls and humanity were ripped from them for a long moment, becoming creatures of the sea, though they remained on land. He didn’t know what became of them after they returned to the land, but he could do nothing else.This was the only way that he could survive.

He drifted to the surface the night of the party, listening to the loud noises of humans dancing and singing. As Yuuri stepped out of the water, his glow faded from him, long legs taking the place of the scales. With a motion of his hand, he was clothed in human garments, a flowing black top and short red shorts. He walked carefully onto the beach, his body moving as though it was already caught in a dance, the soft sway of the waves ever present in his movements.

As he scanned the crowd, he saw many beautiful humans. All shapes and sizes, plenty for him to choose from. Yuuri’s eyes stopped on the face of a silver haired human sitting alone on the side, a drink in his hand. The human was wearing tight black pants and a soft-looking blue shirt, and Yuuri’s breath was taken away.

He’d stolen the souls of many humans before, but this human was the most beautiful he’d ever seen. He joined in the dancing, easily drifting his way to the lone human, picking up one of their drinks on the way. While his human form didn’t need their sustenance, consuming it would do nothing to him.

“You looked like you were having fun dancing, why are you over here?” The human looked up with piercing blue eyes that Yuuri would  _swear_ were of his own kind of blue were not an impossible color for their eyes. He was striking, his features strong and masculine, while still carrying a delicate look.

Yuuri was  _intrigued_. Usually humans bored him.

“I don’t like the idea of someone sitting all alone,” Yuuri responded, sitting on the sand beside him, staring out into the waves. “I don’t really like parties, anyway. There’s too much noise. Dancing is fun but...” He shrugged, staring off into the distance. It wasn’t a lie. If he could find an easier way to lure humans to the beach, he would, but they always seemed to come in packs.

“I usually like parties,” he answered, shaking his head. “This is for my cousin, Yura. I guess you’re one of his friends? I’m Viktor,” he introduced, extending a hand.

“Yuuri.” Yuuri shook VIktor’s hand, marveling at the soft, warm feeling. 

“You’re so cold! Here.” Viktor stood up, grabbing a black jacket from underneath him and putting it over Yuuri’s shoulders.

“Oh,” Yuuri said in surprise. Usually humans ignored his temperature, and let him continue through his routine without much more than his dance. “Thank you, Viktor.”

“I wasn’t using it anyway,” Viktor laughed. “Where are you from, Yuuri?”

“I live here, by the sea,” Yuuri answered, not technically lying. “My family houses people who need somewhere to stay for a short time, so I work with them. I come out to the beach sometimes when business is slow.”

When he needs to  _feed_. His family sustained themselves the same way that he did, but he was younger. He needed to go to the surface more often to make sure that he stayed alive.

“Oh, that’s cool!” Viktor exclaimed. “I live further from the beach, in Petersburg. I ice skate there. I’m very good.” He winked, and Yuuri was unable not to laugh.

“How good?”

“I’ve won a couple gold medals. I’m told I’m  _very_  graceful. I could show you?” Viktor extended a hand, and Yuuri stared. He’d never been asked to dance before, it was always the other way around.

But they  _danced_ , and Yuuri found himself for once not leading the movements. Viktor spun him through the sand as though they together weighed nothing, jumping and laughing. It was nothing like the cursed dances he’d done in the past. The music faded but Viktor stayed, calling out to his cousin that he wanted to stay for longer. Yura didn’t seem to mind, leaving with his arms slung over some other human’s shoulder.

The light faded from the beach as the sun set, but Yuuri remained in Viktor’s arms while they danced and spoke. He should have said something by now. He should have commanded him to stop, to kiss him. This should be over.

Instead he was sitting on the cool sand, looking at Viktor’s phone at pictures of his dog. He had his head on Viktor’s shoulder, a warm touch to his usually cool skin. He was  _comfortable_ , even though he shouldn’t be.

“Your stamina is insane,” Viktor laughed as he leaned into Yuuri. “You could dance until the sun came back, couldn’t you?”

Yuuri shrugged. “I like to dance. It makes sense to me.”

“You’re a natural,” Viktor agreed. “Amazing, really. I’ve never met someone that could dance so well without music there.”

“Viktor.” Yuuri ducked his head down in embarrassment but Viktor shook his head, tilting Yuuri’s back up to look at him.

“I’m bored skating, Yuuri. You do the same dances so many times a season, it gets  _boring_. You, though,” he laughed, breezily, and Yuuri wanted to hold onto him forever. It was a terrifying feeling. “You’re something different. You could dance forever. I want to skate like you dance.”

“You already dance like me,” Yuuri said, shocked that it was the truth. Usually, human movements were sluggish and stilted compared to his own, but Viktor danced as though he’d also been graced by the sea. “Put that into yoru skating. Show the world my dance.”

“I should. A program just for you,” Viktor exclaimed, grinning at him.

“I wish I could see it,” Yuuri answered. He then put his hands over his mouth, wishing he hadn’t spoken at all. He couldn’t  _want_  a human this badly, it should be against his nature. He didn’t want his soul, he wanted his presence. He wanted Viktor to be with him, to show him his dancing and his skating.

“Then watch me, Yuuri,” Viktor said, as if it were that easy. And for humans, it was. For a human, they would find Viktor’s performance on TV and watch it, be in awe of what he could do. Yuuri didn’t get that.

“I will,” he lied instead of admitting how much it hurt to know that no one would see the dance.

“Then I’ll skate just for you,” Viktor responded, cupping Yuuri’s face with the palm of his hand. Yuuri closed his eyes, trying to imagine having  _this,_ with no strings attached. Having Viktor looking at him like he’d created a new world, like he wanted nothing more than to spend all of his time with Yuuri.

He had to stop thinking about how he wanted that world as well. 

“It’s getting dark,” he said instead. Viktor looked startled by the words, although it should be clear to anyone. He let go of Yuuri, standing up and offering him a hand. Yuuri stood, taking the hand. He had to invite him to one last dance. He had to feed, or else...

“I have practice early tomorrow. I need to go,” Viktor murmured, though he sounded like he wanted anything else. “I want to see you again. Can I have your phone number?” But Yuuri didn’t have a phone, and if he did, he couldn’t give it to Viktor. Not when he knew what he had to do.

“Viktor,” he whispered, but he  _couldn’t_ say stay _._ He couldn’t reach out for him and tell him to remain in the town. A word, and Viktor would be just another one of his victims. He’d done what he could without his commands, but Yuuri could do no more. He could only reach a hand out and grab onto Viktor’s arm, tugging him toward himself. “One more dance?” he asked, clinging onto Viktor’s arm, unable to complete the sentence. He couldn’t give Viktor the same command as everyone else.

“One more. I need to go inside soon, Yuuri,” Viktor laughed, wrapping his arms around Yuuri’s neck, tugging him close for their last dance.

“I know.” Yuuri put his head on Viktor’s shoulder, hiding his face. He didn’t want to order VIktor to stay, he didn’t want to order him to the same fate he had so many others. He knew that  _technically_  they survived, but it would take Viktor away from him. “I don’t want you too.”

“Why not?” Viktor asked, spinning him and pulling him close again, as if the music from the party was still playing. “I can come back. Or we can go somewhere else.”

“I can’t,” Yuuri answered. “Viktor, this is the only time I’m allowed to see you.”

“Then we’ll make it last,” Viktor decided. He moved, almost too quickly, angling his head toward Yuuri’s.

Yuuri’s frantic thoughts had him untangling himself from Viktor’s arms, eyes wide. A kiss would be Viktor’s undoing, even without Yuuri’s charm.

“No.” Yuuri put his hand between the two of them, frantic, tears gathering in his eyes at the feeling of Viktor’s lips soft against his fingers. He wished they were on his own lips, he wished for the cool feeling of Viktor’s soul trickling into his throat.

He shoved Viktor away, a gasp escaping his mouth at the thoughts, needing to contain himself. He covered his mouth with both of his hands, tears falling now. He didn’t want to kill Viktor, but his body, his nature, was doing it for him. Yuuri tried to turn away, but Viktor reached out to grab his arm. Yuuri shook him off, his eyes wide as he stared back.

“Yuuri,” Viktor whispered, hurt, and Yuuri wanted to explain, but even the promise of the kiss had his glow returning, preparing his body to collect Viktor’s soul. He covered his mouth, choking out a sob, unable to tell him what was happening. “Yuuri, what’s going on?”

Viktor stepped away from him, and Yuuri looked up at him, his eyes turning a flaming red as the scales overwhelmed his bottom half. “I can’t ask you to stay,” Yuuri answered, his voice changed, more melodic in case his original curse hadn’t worked. In case he hadn’t taken their soul with just a kiss. “I can’t kiss you,” he added, stepping back further, his feet hitting the water as they changed into a tail, knocking him to the ground. The dark scales blended among the dark waves, the only light on the beach the soft red glow surrounding him.

“Yuuri, what’s happening?” Viktor asked, and for some reason, he stepped  _closer_. Yuuri put his hands up to his face, to block Viktor from trying to kiss him again, but the hurt look had faded from Viktor’s face, only to one of shock. “Are you... Eros?”

“What?” Yuuri had never heard the name before, so he didn’t understand why Viktor had immediately applied it to him.

“There’s a myth on the mainland. On clear nights, a creature comes to shore, the most beautiful human ever seen.  He invites the most beautiful woman on the beach to dance, sweeps her off of her feet and away from her friends. They... after that night, she’s obsessed with him, nearly driven mad. They move from the island every time. No one believes he exists,” Viktor said, almost reverent. Yuuri turned his eyes to the sand, knowing it was him. It wasn’t his  _choice_  to become this creature.

“I guess that’s me,” he agreed. “I’m a spirit. My only... my means of survival is human souls. Through a kiss.”

“And the girls?” Viktor asked, stepping forward again, which Yuuri could not understand. If he knew this myth of Yuuri driving humans  _mad_ , why would he come closer?

“As long as they forget, and get away from the water, they can live normal lives,” Yuuri answered, because he knew that much. “I... don’t know the other option.”

“I want to know,” Viktor decided, pushing forward, and Yuuri yelled, covering himself again, pushing back deeper into the water.

“No! Viktor, you  _can’t_. What if it kills you?” Yuuri held himself in the water, his body shaking, trying to hide himself from Viktor.

“What if it doesn’t?” Viktor stepped forward, walking into the water, deeper, and deeper, until he could barely stand. Yuuri swam forward slowly, not wanting him to drown. “Yuuri, you have to take the risk. If you don’t feed on my soul, what happens?”

Yuuri looked down, knowing that Viktor had caught on to the careful balance. If Yuuri didn’t take Viktor’s soul... “I’d... fade.”

“How do you know I won’t already go crazy? You’ve obviously seduced me,” Viktor said, still trying, and Yuuri kept him an arm’s length away from him, his hand curling into the now soaked fabric of his shirt.

“Then you’ll be gone either way. At least you’ll be alive,” Yuuri said, stubbornly. He couldn’t risk what might happen if Viktor was wrong; if he died.

“What if you feed on me more than once?” Viktor asked. “Is that possible? You take my soul, it drives me mad. It drives me back here. I meet with you again. You feed again. No more girls. Only  _me_.”

Yuuri swallowed at the idea of exclusively feeding from Viktor. Of having possession over him. If Viktor was like him, Yuuri was sure his eyes would be bright. Instead, Yuuri’s own glow brightened, licking his lips. He swam closer, unable to stop himself.

Still, he tried to stop Viktor. “You don’t want that.”

“I’ll be mad either way,” Viktor insisted, and it felt like it was apart from Yuuri’s own will as his arm bent. “If I’m wrong, this will be the last time we see each other. We might as well make it last,” he breathed, and Yuuri gasped aloud.

Their lips met, the soft spark of electricity and smooth pull of Viktor’s soul following. Yuuri wound his arms around his neck, holding him close as he fed.

If Viktor was right, this was what Yuuri for the rest of his existence, and Viktor’s life. Viktor could come back to the beach and finally be settled once he was touching the water. They could get to know each other, and fall in love. Yuuri would be well-fed and Viktor well-protected.

If Viktor was wrong, then he’d go mad, and he’d leave. Yuuri would come to the shore at the next party, and take hold of another human, dragging them into his deadly dance and then casting them aside.

Either way, they got this moment.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> kudos/comments/bookmarks are always appreciated <3 please tell me if you like it!
> 
> my blog is [yoyoplisetsky](https://yoyoplisetsky.tumblr.com/). prompts for mermaid aus for this are closed, but i'm always open to prompts/messages ^-^


	7. jellyfish

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> mermaid!viktor, mermaid!yuuri, fluff, established relationship (prompt: jellyfish)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> viktor,,, is,,, so in love
> 
> back to the fluff!

“Let me take you somewhere,” Viktor requested, wrapping his arms around Yuuri’s waist. Yuuri immediately leaned back into him, tilting his head so they could meet their lips in a soft kiss. “For dinner tonight. I want to take you on a date,” Viktor purred.

“We eat together every night,” Yuuri laughed, turning around so he could twine his blue and silver scales with Viktor’s pink and gold. “But okay.”

“It’s going to be different. I want to take you somewhere special. I found it a few years ago and I want to show you. We can have a picnic! We can make little rolls, and I’ll bring my blanket, and we can eat there! Yuuri, it would be fun!” Viktor spun him around in excitement. Yuuri held onto his shoulders, laughing as they floated up in the water, the twirl sending them from the ocean floor.

“Where are you taking me, Vitya?” They finally settled back onto the floor, and Yuuri let go of Viktor so he could go back to the work that he was doing. He arranged jewelry for others, so he had all sorts of shiny stones and medals spread over his workspace.

“It’s a surprise, Yuuri! I promise you’ll love it.” Viktor winked, leaning against his table and letting his tail drift up, staring down at the stones that Yuuri was working with. He picked up one of the silver pieces Yuuri wasn’t using, turning it over in his hands a few times. Yuuri smiled at him, shaking his head.

His boyfriend was ridiculous, but Yuuri loved every moment of courting Viktor. He was happy to take Yuuri on ridiculous dates and let Yuuri spoil him with small stones and medals that he found at the bottom of the ocean, pieces that would never work for his jewelry. Viktor had a collection of the stones sitting by his bed, Yuuri knew.

“Okay. Let me finish work. You’ll make dinner?” Yuuri asked, turning around so he could kiss Viktor again, holding onto him for a few moments.

“Of course I will! I’ll come back right before sundown,” Viktor promised, releasing Yuuri and taking his hand to kiss his fingers softly. “I love you.”

“I love you too,” Yuuri answered, blushing as he watched Viktor go. Once he was gone, Yuuri quickly worked to finish the bracelet. He put all of his supplies away, carefully brushing his scales free from any dirt. He pulled silver bracelets onto his arms, knowing that Viktor loved to wear the golden ones that matched his own scales when they went out together.

Once he was ready, Yuuri sat on his kelp bed, tail curled beneath his body, waiting for Viktor to return. As the sun started to set, Viktor returned to Yuuri’s home, the golden bracelets jingling on his arms. He was carrying a large woven basket, and Yuuri smiled at the sight of him.

“Are you ready to go?” Viktor asked, lighting up at the sight of the bracelets on Yuuri’s arms. Yuuri nodded, sliding off of bed and taking Viktor’s hand. He locked the door, happily swimming through the city with him.

“Am I allowed to know where we’re going yet?” Yuuri asked, excited despite everything by the happy look in Viktor’s eyes.

“Close your eyes,” Viktor huffed instead of an answer, and Yuuri couldn’t help but laugh, letting Viktor put his hands over Yuuri’s eyes. “Hold the basket!” He handed Yuuri the picnic basket and Yuuri held the picnic in front of him. They swam forward, tails hitting together a little as Viktor tried to keep them balanced in the water.

It felt like they were swimming forever when Viktor finally released Yuuri’s eyes. Yuuri opened his eyes and let out a long gasp of breath, turning around to look all around himself. “Vitya,” he whispered, and Viktor beamed, taking the basket from Yuuri and laying the soft braided seaweed across the ocean floor. He drifted down to rest on the seaweed, motioning to the other side for Yuuri.

Yuuri stayed up for a moment, turning around in a circle. Surrounding them were blooms of jellyfish, glowing blue. They floated peacefully in the slow waves, and Yuuri turned back to Viktor in awe. “How did you know this was here?”

“Chris and I found it when we were out together a few years ago. We were looking for cool rocks, but we found this instead,” Viktor exclaimed, taking Yuuri’s hand to lead him down onto the blanket. Yuuri settled down, letting his tail rest by his side, the end of his fins brushing against Viktor’s.

“It’s beautiful.” Yuuri smiled, gratefully taking his dinner from Viktor. They enjoyed dinner in almost silence, watching the floating glow of the jellyfish around them. As they finished eating, they released the scraps onto the ground for scavengers to find later that night.

“I didn’t just bring you here for dinner,” Viktor murmured, sliding closer to Yuuri so their shoulders were touching, ends of their tails intertwined. Yuuri looked up at him, trying to determine what he meant. What other reason would have caused Viktor to bring him here? “Be my mate,” Viktor finally said, lifting the final item from the basket. A short chain of pearls and shells was lit by the glow of the jellyfish. Viktor turned it to the side so Yuuri could see all of the details he had put into it. Yuuri tried to keep breathing, staring at him. “Accept this, and be my mate,” Viktor asked softer.

“Please,” Yuuri answered, putting his hands over his mouth, tilting his head toward Viktor. Viktor leaned forward, easily sliding the necklace over Yuuri’s neck, brushing his fingers against the pearls as he let it fall.

“I love you,” Viktor said, and Yuuri laughed softly, wrapping his arms around VIktor’s neck to pull him into a kiss. Viktor wrapped their tails together, pink twining with blue as they pressed down into the blanket, lips pressed against each other.

“I love you too.” Yuuri pulled away to rub his fingers against the necklace, the soft pearls smooth and perfect beneath his fingers. “Vitya, I have nothing for you,” Yuuri mumbled, disappointed. Mates usually both had something to show the other that they were taken. Just having Viktor’s necklace was _amazing,_ but Viktor had nothing. “I’ve been preparing, but it’s not finished, I can’t give it to you yet.”

“Take your time,” Viktor answered, kissing Yuuri softly again. His long silver hair flowed behind him, sparkling gems reflecting the blue glow from the jellyfish. “Surprise me like I’ve surprised you. I want to see what you’ll make for me, Yuuri.”

“I’ll give you the best surprise of your life!” Yuuri declared, sure of himself. He would make sure that his surprise acceptance of Viktor’s request to mate was the most amazing experience of his life. It would rival the jellyfish lit date and the smooth pearl necklace that Yuuri now had. It would be the _best_.

“I trust you,” Viktor answered, kissing Yuuri softly. “I trust you to be the best mate I could possibly have.”

Yuuri needed to find more gold.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> kudos/comments/bookmarks are always appreciated <3 please tell me if you like it!
> 
> my blog is [yoyoplisetsky](https://yoyoplisetsky.tumblr.com/). prompts for mermaid aus for this are closed, but i'm always open to prompts/messages ^-^


	8. seaweed

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> seadragon-mermaid!viktor, human-scientist!yuuri, fluff, first meeting (prompt: seaweed)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *loudly screams* SEADRAGONS ARE REALLY PRETTY PLS GOOGLE LEAFY SEADRAGONS TO HAVE THE FULL EFFECT OF HOW PRETTY VIKTOR IS
> 
> also wow let's finish mermay before august, shall we?

This was his first big break. Yuuri had been granted a month to study a giant seaweed forest of the shores of St. Petersburg, to learn more about the species that lived among these plants. it was a relatively unstudied area in the sea, and there were rumors that rare and even _undiscovered_ species lived among this seaweed.

If Yuuri was lucky, and studied carefully enough, he might be able to make the biggest scientific breakthrough of his entire life. He went through the seaweed carefully, making notes and taking pictures of all of the species he came across, marking off things that he had expected to see almost immediately, and writing down which ones he didn’t recognize right away.

He paused, however, as he saw another head among the kelp, his eyes wide in terror. The silver hair of the other human was floating in the water freely, no gear around him. All of the worst scenarios shot through Yuuri’s head before he was able to get his body to move again.

Someone had been out to the beach, had come to the kelp, and had drowned. They’d been pulled underneath the water by some animal. They were unable to swim. Their foot caught on the kelp and they couldn’t untangle themself in time to resurface. No matter the explanation, the same terror filled Yuuri as he shot forward – he was about to find a decomposing human body among the kelp forest.

He took in a deep breath of his oxygen, closing his eyes and counting to ten as he finally reached the kelp where he’d seen the floating human.

His breath left in a stream of bubbles that had him choking out a cough, quickly replacing the oxygen tube into his mouth. Among the kelp wasn’t the scene of a vicious attack or an accidental drowning – it was…

The man had a human upper half, a lean and muscular body and beautiful face, curled around the kelp with his arms hugging it tight to his body. His hair was long and silver, braided together with little pieces of kelp and coral holding it in place. He had pearls and pieces of metal and fish scales decorating his body as jewelry, but that wasn’t what took Yuuri’s breath away.

Attached to the human torso was the most beautiful seadragon he’d ever seen. The creature was a silvery blue, black and silver and blue leaves extending from its body. His tail was curled around the coral like any average sea dragon, but he so clearly wasn’t.

Yuuri had found a mermaid.

The scientist in him wanted to know everything, but he didn’t want this creature to be hurt, so he could only stare, watching as he moved gently with the waves of the sea, curled onto the kelp to hold him in place. The seadragon’s eyes fluttered open, and widened when he saw Yuuri, pushing off of the kelp and starting to dart away.

Yuuri reached out, his hand barely brushing against one of the leafs before the mermaid disappeared far from him. Yuuri shot to the surface, climbing back onto his boat and quickly writing down his coordinates.

He came back the next day, a new tank of oxygen and stronger diving gear. He needed something to report back to his superiors, but this was so much more important at the moment. He had month to study the seaweed; he didn’t know if he’d be able to find the mermaid again. He dove back into the ocean at the same coordinates, swimming among the tall kelp forest, jotting down notes about the species that he saw among it in his waterproof notepad.

When he saw a flash of blue and silver, his notes were quickly tucked away and he swam slowly in that direction. The seadragon was there, among the kelp, drifting freely like the day before. His hair was loose today, flowing with the water as he held out his arms, doing some sort of dance. His body twisted and turned like the most graceful human dancer, a bright smile on his face, and when he turned and saw Yuuri, he didn’t stop, only met his eyes as he finished his dance. He held onto the kelp, swaying back and forth with it as Yuuri approached.

His eyes expressed clear worry, but he didn’t run. “You came back?” Yuuri startled when the creature spoke a language he could understand, the words reaching him even through the water, seeming to reverberate directly in his head.

Yuuri nodded, unable to speak in the same way, and the mermaid eyed him curiously, looking around. “You don’t know how to speak?” he questioned, and Yuuri shook his head this time. He approached him cautiously, bringing up one hand to stroke against Yuuri’s arm.

“My name is Viktor,” he added, his smile starting to grow back onto his face. “Do you only know how to speak on the surface?”

Yuuri nodded, sucking in another big breath of oxygen. The seadragon smiled, nodding. “I can meet you at the dock, when the moon is out. If you come, I’ll talk with you.”

Viktor disappeared back into the seaweed, and Yuuri tried to focus on his research. As it started to grow later, he shot to the surface, pulling his boat to the dock and going to get food, his body almost vibrating as he wondered what was going to happen tonight.

He came back to the dock after dinner, sitting at the edge with his feet in the water, flipping through his pictures and notes as he waited for Viktor. He figured that he wouldn’t show up until after dark, and he’d probably pop his head out of the water to speak to him. Yuuri glanced up when he felt a tap on his shoulder, his eyes widening as he saw short, silver hair.

“My name is Viktor,” the human said, offering him a hand. Viktor was wearing black, flowing pants and a tight blue shirt, covered in strange patterns of glitter that seemed to reflect how he’d looked in the water. His hair was shorter, and he was wearing a deep blue necklace, the sparkling pearl resting near his neckline. “And yours?”

“Yuuri,” he whispered, staring at the man who had been a mermaid only hours ago. The moon was full behind Viktor’s head, and he reached out to take Yuuri’s hand, kissing his fingers softly.

“It’s wonderful to meet you, Yuuri. Shall we?” He pointed off of the dock, into the bright lights of the town.

Yuuri shoved his notes and pictures into his bag and immediately followed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> kudos/comments/bookmarks are always appreciated <3 please tell me if you like it!
> 
> my blog is [yoyoplisetsky](https://yoyoplisetsky.tumblr.com/). prompts for mermaid aus for this are closed, but i'm always open to prompts/messages ^-^


	9. tide

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> shark-mermaid!yuuri, human!viktor, fluff, first meeting (prompt: tide)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you for a wonderful may, even if this took until july to finish, aha. <3

Makkachin was missing.

Viktor had looked away from his dog for five minutes to take a phone call from Yakov, and she had disappeared. He panicked, throwing his phone into the sand with his umbrella and towel and rushing across the beach, following her footsteps as long as he could, until they were washed away by the tide. The water was rising, the waves were strong, Makkachin could be anywhere, she could be –

He tried not to let his pounding heartbeat command him, but he couldn’t help but think of all of the places that Makkachin could have gone – because there weren’t many. He turned around and around, searching for his dog on the beach as tears pricked in his eyes. _No_. No, this was not okay, she knew better, she wouldn’t run away, she wouldn’t –

He heard laughter among the waves and rushed forward, hoping that whoever it was might have seen wherever she ran off to.

Viktor stopped when he got close, because… Makkachin. His breath left him, sagging into the waves with a relieved laugh. She looked up at the noise and barked loudly, rushing over and knocking him into the water. He laughed, wrapping his arms around her neck and holding her close to his body. “Don’t run off like that, Makkachin. I thought you’d gone into the water,” he said, tears filling his eyes as he hugged her tight. He didn’t want to imagine what could have happened if she hadn’t heard him.

Viktor finally pulled away from his dog and looked up to see another man sitting among the waves, a small smile on his face as he watched the two of them. His eyes widened when Viktor met his eyes, and he started to turn, but Viktor reached out. “Wait!” He ran through the waves, splashing with Makkachin following at his feet. “Thank you, for playing with her. She might have gone deeper if you hadn’t, and then she could have been hurt.”

“She didn’t come to me,” he said, and Viktor stared in shock at him. When he’d opened his mouth, rows of sharp teeth shined under the light of the sun, reflecting in the waves. “I’ve not met a dog in a long time!” he exclaimed, his cheeks turning red. “I’m sorry.”

“No, it’s… you called her to you?” Makkachin didn’t listen to anyone other than Viktor, so that this man was able to summon her out into the waves…

He nodded, pulling his body forward, and Viktor did his best not to stumble backward when he saw him. Rather than legs, the man had a shining grey tail, attached to his back with a pointed fin he’d only seen on sharks.

“I used to play with a dog a lot, but he stopped coming to the beach. I saw her and asked her to come out. She knocked me over, so excited to play.” He laughed, reaching out to thread his fingers in Makkachin’s fur and pet her softly. She barked excitedly, her tongue lolling out of his mouth, and the shark man held her out of the water.

“What’s your name?” Viktor asked, walking toward him cautiously and sitting in the water, letting it lap around his waist as he pet Makkachin as well.

“Yuuri,” he answered, blushing again, looking down at Makkachin. “I really should have asked, I’m sorry. I promise she was never in any trouble. I didn’t know she was here with anyone.”

“It’s okay. She clearly likes you, and as long as weren’t going to hurt her,” Viktor answered, scratching at Makkachin’s ears. She barked again, licking at his hands and he smiled at her, glad that she was safe. “I’m Viktor.”

“It’s nice to meet you,” Yuuri said, extending a hand to him. Viktor took it, marveling in the leathery slide of his skin, matching his sharky lower half. “You’re not… The only people who have seen me have seemed scared.”

“You’re clearly not going to hurt me.” Viktor shrugged, though he couldn’t claim not to be startled by the sharp teeth and shark body. “Do you want me to bring Makkachin out to the beach again? I’m sure she’d love to play with you!”

“Really?” Yuuri’s eyes lit up excitedly, and he nodded his head. “Please! That would be so great,” he exclaimed. “I don’t meet people often, the tides are usually too high when people are on the beach. Or they see my dorsal fin and… panic.”

Viktor couldn’t imagine how lonely that would be, not ever meeting the people who came so close to where he lived so often. He smiled brightly, nodding his head. “Makkachin likes to make new friends, and she loves the beach!”

They started to come back every day, and Viktor learned more and more about Yuuri. He was a mermaid, part of a species that was half tiger shark. His family lived deeper in the water, but he liked to come to the shore and watch the humans swim. When he’d been younger, he’d made a couple friends with people, as they were able to fade between species in their youth. Once he was older, though, he was confined to the water, and could only talk to other mermaids – until Viktor.

Viktor thought he was beautiful, really. He was prone to a bright red blush, and when he got nervous, he’d fiddle with his fins, or he’d go deeper in the water, until all Viktor could see was his bright, excited brown eyes.

One day, Yuuri was in the middle of telling some grand story about chasing down a school of fish and Viktor had gotten distracted staring at his bright shining teeth and leaned in to kiss him. Yuuri had made a startled noise, sitting there in shock for a moment before diving at Viktor, nearly submerging him with his excitement to kiss him back.

Somehow, it was fitting that Viktor had managed to fall in love with the mermaid who lured Makkachin to the waves. It gave him an excuse to the beach much more often, and he was far from afraid to let her wander. She’d go rushing to Yuuri, and he could take his time jumping into the waves and splashing his boyfriend.

**Author's Note:**

> kudos/comments/bookmarks are always appreciated <33
> 
> if you have a one/two word prompt that you'd like to see me turn into a mermaid au, just throw me a message with it at [yoyoplisetsky](https://yoyoplisetsky.tumblr.com/) ^-^ i'll accept prompts for this through the end of may!


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